"One of the solutions is an anti-missile system offered by NATO," he said. Lithuania, a tiny Baltic state that joined NATO and the European Union after the Soviet collapse, is on Russia's northwestern border, making the prospect of an anti-missile deployment there politically explosive.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday warned that US plans to deploy an anti-missile shield in the central European countries of Poland and the Czech Republic could turn the continent into a "powder keg."

Both those countries were part of the Moscow-dominated Warsaw Pact, but unlike Lithuania they were not in the Soviet Union.

Washington says the proposed shield would guard against hypothetical threats from Iran or North Korea.

Moscow accuses the United States and NATO of aggressive military expansion into its backyard and in response has frozen compliance in a landmark Cold War-era conventional arms treaty.

Olekas denied that a missile shield would be aimed at Russia, saying it would "serve as a guarantee of stability in the region."

Russia upped the stakes on Tuesday with a test of a new multiple warhead ballistic missile, successfully fired 6,000 kilometres (3,700 miles) across the country before striking its target.

First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, seen as a possible successor to Putin in 2008, pointedly described the RS-24 missile as "capable of penetrating all existing and perspective anti-missile systems."

The respected Kommersant daily newspaper on Wednesday described the test as Russia's "asymmetrical response to America," while parliament deputy Igor Barinov said "our rocket complex is part of a moral struggle against the American missile system in Europe."

There was no immediate official reaction from Moscow to the Lithuanian defence minister's comments.

A senior parliamentarian, Leonid Slutsky, told Echo of Moscow radio that "we will be categorically against" such weapons in Lithuania.

"For Lithuania there are no threats. It's just that Lithuania is showing its political and defence alignment with NATO and the United States," he said.

On Tuesday, a White House spokesman reacted to Putin's "powder keg" warning, saying that it had "made clear to the Russians that this missile shield is directed at other nations that conceivably affect the peace of Europe."

"We will continue to make sure that Russia fully understands our intentions," the spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, said.

earlier related report
Russia accuses US of restarting arms race
Potsdam (AFP) Germany, May 30 - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States on Wednesday of restarting the arms race with its plans to build a missile defence shield in eastern Europe.

"I think that those who are professionally aware of this problem understand that there is nothing ludicrous about this issue because the arms race is starting again. Strategic stability is being damaged," Lavrov said at a press conference after a meeting of G8 foreign ministers outside Berlin.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was also attending the Potsdam meeting, on Tuesday described Russian concerns about the shield as "ludicrous."

Washington wants to base the shield in the former Soviet states of Poland and the Czech Republic and says it is aimed to defend against attacks from states such as North Korea, but Russia insists it endangers its security.

Lavrov said: "All they (the Americans) are saying is 'don't worry it is not aimed at you', but our analysis is that such answers are ludicrous."

Rice responded: "The idea is that this particular missile defence programme cannot and is not expected to be able to somehow degrade the Russian nuclear deterrent."

She said Russia's nuclear deterrent "would overwhelm quite easily anything that is anticipated now or in the future for American and European missile defence."

Rice said she hoped that "we have taken care of the North Korean nuclear threat, I think it is a little early to declare victory on that one and we certainly haven't yet been able to take care of the Iranian nuclear programme.

"So there are future threats to be concerned about."

earlier related report
Lithuanian minister denies inviting U.S. to deploy missile shield
Vilnius (RIA Novosti) May 30 - Lithuania's defense minister rejected Wednesday international media reports that he had approached NATO with a proposal to deploy elements of a U.S. missile shield in his country.

Earlier Wednesday some media sources said that after a one-day official visit to Moldova, where Lithuanian Defense Minister Juozas Olekas discussed Moldova's possible accession to the Western military alliance, the minister proposed that U.S. missile shield elements be deployed in the ex-Soviet Baltic state.

In an interview with Lithuanian news agency ELTA, he said media had misinterpreted his comments, in which he had stated that the air defense systems planned for certain Central European nations would help Lithuania, providing a guarantee of stability for the region as a whole.

The minister said: "They are not aimed against Russia, and should not be viewed as a first step toward a Cold War" as some Russian military officials and politicians have warned.

The U.S. has reached an informal agreement with Poland to deploy interceptor missiles in the country, and has plans for a missile defense radar in the Czech Republic as part of its missile shield.

Washington has insisted that placing missile shield components in Central Europe is a security measure against possible nuclear strikes from rogue states, such as Iran and North Korea, whose controversial nuclear programs have caused international concerns.

But Moscow, already unnerved by NATO's expansion to former Warsaw Pact member states, has condemned the plans as a threat to national security and a destabilizing factor for Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Tuesday against dangerous tendencies in Europe toward militarization.

Email This Article

Related Links
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com